[b]Fengye![/b]

The Maid puffs herself up. It’s almost inspiring, knowing how completely outclassed she is. “I know not what you are,” she hisses, petulantly. “But you may count yourselves in [i]my[/i] service. Lash yourselves to my slehehehed~!”

Her voice cracks into a squeak like that of a bat frantically fluttering away. It’s not because of the flexing, advancing N’yari, but because of the curse that Zhaojun laid upon her. Even her voice betrays her. But the N’yari don’t know that. And, in a way, isn’t it heroic that she tries to stand her ground? It’s just that her body flinches, and she takes a step back, and her heel slips out from under her, and the N’yari pounce.

“Cutie!! [i]Cutie!![/i] Help me!! Hellll[i]mmmffffgl!!![/i]”

You know, Zhaojun really outdid herself. That’s some excellent cheek capacity the Maid is being assisted in displaying, and she’s drumming her feet on the ground like she was born for it. She has tumbled straight from her glimmer of dominance to giving you pleading looks as she squirms underneath two N’yari intent on turning her into a helpless, hopping prize.

The third— Jazumi, the younger sister of Machi, the N’yari that Zhaojun had plans for— drapes herself over your lap, purring. “Was this loudmouth—“ (“[i]llmmmfff???[/i]”) “Bothering you, little lady?” Her invasion of your personal space is the opposite of the Maid’s; she is all languid insolence and a lazy grin, seeing you as having absolutely no way to stop yourself from sharing the Maid’s fate. Though you may want to bring up your leg before she tries making you pull the sled.

Unless you have something even better up your sleeve?

If it takes you a moment to drag your attention away from the Maid, don’t worry. It’s only natural to be speechless when around the raid-sisters of Grandmother Moon and their ways of handling a loudmouthed brat.

[hr]

[b]Han![/b]

“I [i]do[/i] think somebody from a Highland town could compete with anyone from my mother’s house,” Lotus says, looking at you. “Even if you were to…”

She rubs her shoulder up against you. Probably for warmth. Probably because she’s trying to hide under your umbrella. Not because she’s trying to stoke your hearth and set your heart racing.

“Go N’yari. On someone.”

She takes a step in front of you, then turns on you and stands in your way. Her fingertips brush against your front. They might as well be a wall that you’ve just run into. Because you can’t run her over or shove past her. Not her. Not Lotus. Not the little priestess you’ve already caused so much trouble for.

“I don’t think you [i]could[/i] do that,” she adds, super incredibly off-handedly. This is a thought that just happened to strike her. Obviously. “A little kitty-cat like you. Meow.” She lets that linger a moment, her expression hidden by her makeshift veil. “What would that even look like? You, going N’yari? I’d only believe that if you showed me.”

She leans in, closer, her eyes traveling up your neck, almost close enough for you to lift her veil, almost close enough to kiss—

Then the fingertips become her palm and she pushes herself back.

“What am I saying?” She laughs nervously. “Not that I. You don’t need to. What would that even? Meow! Haha!”

[hr]

[b]Lotus![/b]

Meow. [i]Meow.[/i] You said meow out loud to the hero who’s too good for you. Twice. While trying to [i]seduce[/i] her. Selfishly.

Go find the nearest mountain peak and fling yourself off it for your crimes. And then everyone will think it was tragic and no one will ever have to know you tried to get a beautiful strong heroic dragon girl to indulge your [i]wanton desires[/i] by saying [i]meow[/i] at her.

(And stop being so happy that she likes girls!! You are not necessarily included in the girls that she likes!!)

[hr]

[b]Kalaya![/b]

“But where could I even start? What deed could I do to show my love how much she means— how much she meant to me, before my heart failed us both? What deed is worth doing for her? She doesn’t want me to toss in N’yari, so we can’t use yours—“ (Machi growls at this, and strains against her bindings, obviously wanting to wrestle Dima into submission.) “But what else is there for us to [i]do?[/i] I can’t drive out the Dominion single-handedly, especially not after everything we shared, and what else threatens our land?”

The awkward pause suggests that this is not, in fact, a rhetorical question. She’s not wrong that the Dominion is the second most obvious target for heroics. But there’s an even bigger one, one that you might have briefly stopped.

What is to be done about Hell, after all?

[hr]

[b]Giriel! Piripiri![/b]

“Oh, let me just go inside and get my [i]sister,[/i]” Sagacious Crane says. “She’s running around with a priestess who really should have known better, the poor dear. You’ll have to help me with her, Giri, you simply must. Han’s going to give her [i]such[/i] ideas.” She sighs the longsuffering sigh of the wise older sister, despairing at how her ruffian of a younger sister never heeds sage wisdom.

Of course, once she forces the door to Han’s room open, she’ll be [i]quite[/i] shocked to discover they ran out— in the middle of the night— Han doubtless leading her into the woods to— and of course sharing the Sapphire Mother’s love is important but she can’t very well let a [i]novice[/i] handle Han, now can she— and the yielding mud will point you in the right direction— and at that point it’ll be almost impossible to be rid of her.